Uncle Ben Won’t Really Be Involved In ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

In comics, dead doesn’t always mean dead. Almost every big name hero that you could think of has faced death and come back to life eventually in some way. However, there is a very small number of characters that are absolutely, most definitely deceased due to the integral parts they play in certain backstories. For instance, the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne is an essential part of turning Bruce Wayne into Batman. Similarly, this applies to Ben Parker and Spider-Man. But since cinematic adaptations of these origins stories have been told time and time again at this point, even the most casual fans know the significance of Uncle Ben to Peter Parker. That’s why ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ apparently won’t even touch on it.

During a visit to the Atlanta set, Cinemablend spoke to co-producer Eric Hauserman Carroll about the web slinger’s first solo film under the Marvel Studios banner. On the topic of the wall crawler’s dear uncle and the circumstances surrounding his passing that have managed to make their way into the first of each new Spidey franchise, Caroll shared that their approach didn’t call for a rehashing of that fateful night. But it’s not like they’re ignoring it completely:

“We thought that, to keep this fun, light tone, as soon as they have to have their, like, ‘Let’s remember our dearly departed father figure’ — it derails that a little. And again, what we’re trying to tell is this sort of fun story of the kid who is doing all the wrong things for the right reasons. And once you do that, it stops becoming a fun movie about a kid trying to be a kid. He’s mourning the loss of a parent.

They talk about [Ben], absolutely. It’s not… it’s not a huge thing that I want to go into too much, but there is an acknowledgment that there was a Ben. … He’s not around anymore, for sure. They talk about that. We don’t go into any specifics. … We’re implying he’s dead. We have not at all, again, gone into trying to change his origin story.”

This is definitely the way to go. Comic book movie fans are starting to grown tired of origin stories if they’re not completely spent on them already. And it’s certainly nothing against Cliff Robertson’s or Martin Sheen’s portrayals of Uncle Ben or his important lesson about great power and great responsibility, but there’s only so many ways to tell the same story. Luckily, director Jon Watts and company fast-forward a bit in Peter’s story to get to the fun stuff. And if the trailers are any indication, ‘Homecoming’ is sure to be a lot of fun.

How do you feel about ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ skipping over Uncle Ben’s death in favor on an overall lighter tone for Peter Parker’s latest adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Will you be satisfied with only a mention of Spidey’s father figure in passing? And if the House of Ideas decided to revisit him in a flashback down the line, who do you think would make a good Ben Parker opposite Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May? Sound off in the comments.

Ben Silverio

Ben F. Silverio received a degree from Drexel University in the Screenwriting and Playwriting Program with a minor in Television Production. While at Drexel, Ben co-founded and co-hosted a film review show called The Pretentious Film Majors, which has evolved into a multi-format form of entertainment including blogs, podcasts on iTunes, articles in the school paper, and a potential tv show. Now armed with an extremely expensive piece of paper, Ben can begin climbing the treacherous ladder of the entertainment industry, which he hopes to do while streaming WWE wrestling matches, reading Marvel comics, and blogging about the excessive amount of movies and tv shows that he watches, all on the iPhone that is permanently attached to his hand.